Victim was an employee at a petrol pump and had gone to deposit money in a bank.

Three youths snatched a bag containing ₹8.8 lakh from a petrol pump employee here on Monday afternoon when he was going to a bank to deposit the money. The incident took place near the Alpha One Mall.

The victim, identified as Narain Dass, 45, said, “As I walked out of the petrol pump and reached the nearby State Bank of India bank branch, a youth approached me and tried to snatch the bag. I grappled with him to save the money, but he took out a knife and attacked me. I suffered a knife injury in my hand. Even then I kept on holding the bag, but immediately two more looters came and fired in the air with a pistol. I got scared and they succeeded in snatching the bag.” Then they fled on a motorcycle.

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Amrik Singh Powar, who reached the crime scene, said, “We are looking into the footage from a CCTV camera outside the bank and have certain clues.”

The police officer said that the man came walking to the bank to deposit the money and we are suspecting that someone was keeping an eye on him or had prior information about the cash he was carrying, said the DCP.

A few days ago, an ‘All Women Bank’ branch of the Punjab National Bank was robbed at gunpoint by some criminals. In that case also, the police are yet to make any headway.In another incident, a few days ago, a petrol employee was shot by some criminal near Jandiala.